Teaching a 6th Grade Board Game Design Class...

When you complete your course design, please share it here.

I haven't thought this through, but here are some random ideas.

You may want to describe the different categories of games (Euro/Ameritrash/CCG/...) or maybe have a glossary of terms used in board game design.

How about a list of available prototyping tools (Gimp/nanDeck/...)? Or online resources (BGDF/TheGameCrafter/BGG/...)?

Depending on timing, why not a class assignment to enter the GDS?

Like I said, random thoughts. However, I really would like to see the final course design!

Jim

You might want to rethink this. I understand you need a bang, bangs are important for pretty much everything, but if possible, I think almost anything else would be better. 50 minutes isn't a lot of time, but 30 people are a lot of people (well, at least from my point of view - you in the USA are probably more used to big class sizes than I am here in Finland) and I'm 100% sure that there will be people who aren't natural game designers and won't finish their game if you give them free hands. I'm also pretty sure that there will be that someone or a couple of people who are, in fact, gifted in game design, and who will be disappointed if you give them a lot of restrictions.

Maybe design a simple game yourself and have the class design an event deck for it? I think that isn't too difficult, and that would give them the feeling that they've done something on their own. This causes one problem with the rest of your plan, but that's easily fixed:

Here, the most obvious fix would be to change the homework to "change their event deck somehow to make it better", but I think you don't even have to do that. You can let them just change the whole game as much as they want to, even though they originally designed only the event deck. I believe this would also make the course feel more progressive.

The rest of your plan looks very good and solid to me.

I have a game that I've been designing for over three years, and it's going to be in open PnP playtest state as soon as I find anyone who's interested in it (because it isn't in English, but I am willing to translate it if someone is going to play it). Even though it's still in playtest state, it's a very much working game. It features familiar mechanics used in new, intuitive ways and in interesting combinations with other mechanics, so I think it would be at least somewhat fitting for this. If you want, I can translate the game into English and send it to you (you don't have to playtest it, it's okay if you just play it). Here's more information about the game: http://www.bgdf.com/node/6828

Feel free to decline, I can definitely understand why you wouldn't want to use a game that's in playtest state. However, I can also see why it would be good to have your class play a game that's not complete yet.

I think the best big opening bang would be to let the students simply play games. Throwing them in at the deep end and asking them to design something might be a big ask, which could de-motivate them.

Simply showing them an open door to wonder will captivate them instead. I mean, who doesn’t love playing games? You can’t ask for a better icebreaker.

In relation to the course structure I might suggest splitting it up into bite sized chunks - sectioned by game type or inherent game mechanic.

Auction Mechanic – For Sale or Homesteaders
Hidden Person Mechanic – Citadels or Werewolf
Route Building – Settler of Catan or Ticket to Ride
Worker Placement - Zooloretto
Set Collection / hand management – Bohnanza

I’ve tried to pick games that are reasonably cheap, readily available and encompass a short playing time – so you can fit them into 1 class. I should also point out that many games feature multiple mechanics working together.

Giving the students the opportunity to learn about all the different mechanics will give them the foundations to design games – I tend to think of the mechanics as a tool box.

http://boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgamemechanic

Start the week by playing a game with a specific mechanic. Explore the mechanic in the next class and set a home task of logging into board game geek where the students can look at variations of the mechanic – in video form (which is easier). Then ask them to choose one variation and explain why they liked it and chose it in class.

You could split the course up this way, covering two days. The reaming days could focus on the physical aspects of game design, production, artwork, game pieces, board layout, and all sorts.

Another day could explore the social implications and history of game development. The final day could focus on their own game designs, bringing them in for play testing, discussing ideas and so on.

You could also split up the curriculum in terms of components, cards, dice, moving pieces and so.

It might be an idea to give small groups of students different games at each session and different tasks, providing reading literature for each mechanic and so on. That way the knowledge of the different mechanics could be distributed to the class more quickly. The class as a whole would gain knowledge of the mechanics and they could work together – sharing their knowledge amongst each other to build up their individual awareness.

You could start their game designing off slowly. Perhaps give them a broken game and ask them to identify what is wrong with it through playing and then submit their correction. Alternatively, give them an existing game and ask them to improve it or design a new game using the game pieces.

In relation to a game that could serve as a broken mechanic I would offer up Ratuki, which plays like a sack of crap. However, the card images and content are simple which would make it a perfect candidate for a re-design into something else.

http://boardgamegeek.com/video/6344/ratuki/dice-tower-reviews-ratuki

Ratuki is also available in my local pound shop for, err £1 – at least it was the other day I was in. I will gladly buy and post some copies over if you want – for free. I’m happy to contribute to a good cause that promotes game design and game playing in general.

I can probably round out the package with a couple of other small games from my collection as well. However, these wont be great games, because I like playing my good games :) If you look on Tanga you can pick up some cheap games at the moment that could suit your needs as well.

Burrows, Wicked Witches Way, Magical Athlete, and Hornet are currently available for a knockdown price. Not the best games in the world, but hey, they’re cheap :)

There was a competition on the geek awhile back where artists submitted artwork and designers then had to create a game using this artwork. You could download the stuff and let them loose on it.

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/719372/art-game-contest-rules-and-entry-...

I like the idea of starting with a known "broken" game, particularly one where it's easy to identify the brokenness. Why not start with a quick game of a roll-to-move with no choice points, like Snakes and Ladders? Or something like Strip Jack, which also contains zero choices*? Then ask them to identify why having no choice is undesirable, and what they could do to introduce choice to the game. Maybe then, pull out a game that actually incorporates such a change - for example, Slamwich uses the Strip Jack mechanic, but also includes two other mechanics that require actual thought (or one, if you want to argue that seeing a slamwich and seeing a stealer both count as the same mechanic). Or for RTM, find a game that has selectable paths.

Of course then, you spend the remaining time teaching them why RTM is such a terrible mechanic in itself ;)

* Except, of course, the choice to switch to a better game.

I didnt make it into town as planned :(

However, I did have a rummage through my own collection. I'll need to look into postage costs to ship them over - hopefully it wont cost the earth.

I've tried to stick to small sized games to make posting more viable. So far I've come up with -

2 copies of Ratuki (bought to use as backing card stock)
2 copies of By Golly (unused christmas presents from the Works sale)
2 copies of Gloria Pictoria (Works sale again)
Genji (cheap postage filler from Ludibay)
Einfach Genial (to dry for my taste - Knizia)
Pizza Box Baseball (should be ideal, again not my cup of tea)
An old version of Fluxx
Family Business (no idea where from, but I have 2 copies so it must have been cheap or part of a deal)

I can also send a spare copy of Hare and Tortoise - if you dont mind it being without its bulky box. This is the game that brought me back to gaming many years ago - so it would make a very fitting inclusion. I was gonna slice the board up and re-back it to make a travel version (but I've never found the time, chuckles)

I've listed the reasons why these games can go so you can be sure I'm not putting myself out by donating them. And you will be helping me out by taking them off my hands - freeing up space to buy something new :)

Have a look and if they meet your requirements drop me a PM with a postal address and I will begin the hunt for a box to ship them in.

This is such a great idea! i really hope its an awesome class.

My very first thought was one I've seen mentioned a lot already, so I wont harp on it too much, but I think your day one plan is possibly a little much. however, the idea behind it is solid, and kids will be excited to MAKE something of their own, so my suggestions would be to try it, but consider a few points/alternatives:

1. If they are not avid game players with a wide range of mechanics and themes in mind, it will be difficult for them to design AND prototype a game in a 50 minute class. Some suggestions to get this ball rolling is to challenge them to think of a board game (or card game) they like and re-imagine it. If they enjoy monopoly, what could they do to make an EVEN BETTER monopoly game? What could they add to Battleship to make it even more fun? how would they change the rules of Risk to fit into a fantasy battle theme? How would they make Yu-gi-oh playable by more than 2 at a time, or combine movement with the card battling for a different expereince? Even if they are only doing minor tweaks to what is already there, it will start them thinking about the process of designing games and help build investment. Also starting from an existing framework means it will be easier to complete (less base decisions to be made) and also quicker to get to a playtestable version (especially if you have copies in the classroom- maybe from a thrift store?- that they can get to work modifying).

2. Another consideration is to have them work in groups. More ideas, more hands to cut/paste/write cards. Better for playtesting (it will be hard to get each of them to play each others games... they wont know how to make quick and easy games out the gate and you may have designs that take "hours" to set up and learn/play.). Working in a gorup means they already have built-in invested playtesters, and groups can swap prototypes for feedback.

3. Another take on a gentler approach to designing your own game is to have the students think of their favorite video game, and try to figure out how they could turn that into a board or card game. You could give a quick example with something like Frogger or Mario Kart, showing how the jump over stuff or race around the track gameplay could be simulated in a board game (this doesnt have to be a fully designed game ,you could draw/mock it up on the board or show overheads to demonstrate the process of turning those ideas into a game concept), then have the students take a stab at it. This approach has the benefit of direction while still allowing absolute freedom, and the boost of relating to video games, which is a plus. Especially since I bet you'll have a least a few students who want to be video game designers or think the class with be about video game design, and it gives you a chance to relate how board game design is a process that leads to any other sort of game design. you can mock up a prototype of almost any video game in analog form and test mechanics or ideas pretty easily... much easier than coding a digital prototype! A riff of this idea would be to have them make a game to simulate a specific task or event they are familiar with. Either way, providing something to base gameplay off of will be important to getting some students even started on the idea.

I'm a teacher too -- mostly with 5th graders -- and I want to say that your idea of starting them off with actually designing a game is both ambitious and brilliant. Probably the game they design will be "bad" from an objective standpoint (I'm betting you'll get a lot of Monopoly and Yugiyoh clones), but making a Good Game with a solid mechanic and/or theme is not the point of the exercise. Rather, you are showing them that they have the power to create a game. Presumably, you can also have them look back at their first game at the end of the semester to reflect on how far they've come (kids are generally bad at realizing that since they constantly live in the "now").

If you instead started with an instruction to modify an existing game I think you'll just shut down their creativity. In particular I think many of them will simply say "[my favorite game] is great, I can't possibly improve it." With respect to the opinions of the others on this thread, children are ENDLESSLY creative, and are CONSTANTLY making up games. Any trip into the playground will confirm this. They don't need a rigorous background or notable examples or an understanding of mechanics and math to get started. If you put the materials in front of them, they will make things.

However, I do think you need to temper it a little and give them some boundaries. Some kids especially will freak out if you give them a completely open space for creativity -- the blank page is pretty terrifying, even for seasoned creators. Also, whoever suggested working in groups was quite wise. Probably you don't want more than 3 or 4 to a group, to make sure everyone's voice can be heard.

One way to do this: give each group a rich theme (off the top of my head: pirates, space, politics, land warfare, making a movie) and an easy-to-understand mechanic that directly lends itself to physical pieces and a board (roll and move, area control, MAYBE worker placement, but definitely NOT deckbuilding, co-op, or action-point allowance, each of which deserve their own unit later in the semester). Obviously on the assignment sheet you'd want examples of mass market games for each of these mechanics (though worker placement might be hard). Think of it like a mini-GDS.

You can give different theme and mechanic combinations to each group, or you can give everyone the same set and see what they come up with. Make sure you give them a chance to present to each other.

Make sure each table has some basic supplies like pawns, dice, pre-cut cards, material for a board, plus more basic construction materials if they come up with other components. Have the assignment sheet start with some simple guiding questions like "what is the goal of the game (how do you decide who wins)?" and "who are the players pretending to be? (possible suggestions for the pirate theme: pirate captains, honest merchants, crewmembers on a single crew, royal navy admirals)" and "what is the single-most important verb (action) that players take during the game? (attacking/defending, buying and selling goods, searching for treasure, eliminating secret pirate hideouts)". Once they answer those questions they should already be well on the way to designing a game. Even if it's not "finished" they should be able to get SOMETHING in 50 minutes that they can then take home and finish over a weekend, or else finish on day 2. Filling out the sheet will still feel like an exciting accomplishment because they'll have designed the game in their heads, they just need to execute it.

* Giving your students a framework or criteria to meet for their first game is wise. It is easier to be creative in a restricted environment. You could make a mini-game of it by having them draw a "theme" card and a "component" card, both of which they have to incorporate into their game.
* Exposing your students to existing games that are "different" will help them break out of the mainstream styles.
* I have a slew of print-and-play games at my website: http://www.invisible-city.com/play/521 - Feel free to use what you wish to.

Best of luck! I hope it turns out as well as (or better than) you want it to.

Here's the game in English: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/16948609/TheDarknessEnters_en.zip

Congrats on your new class. Anything I say here would just echo what others have said. So instead, I'd like to point out that my company (The Game Crafter - www.thegamecrafter.com) offers free prototyping materials to educators. We can get you blank cards, mats, and even tuck boxes for your students to design using markers or crayons. No catch or qualifications. If you're interested, drop me an email: jt at thegamecrafter dot com